Conceptualising and contesting ‘fast policy’ in teacher learning: a comparative analysis of Sweden, Finland and Australia

ABSTRACT

In this article, the authors refer to key national policies, and associated politics, in the Swedish, Finnish and Australian contexts, to reveal the key discourses that characterise how ongoing teacher learning is constituted in these settings. Drawing upon Peck and Theodore’s notion of ‘fast policy’, the authors identify what they describe as the ‘markers’ of fast policy in relation to teachers’ continuing professional learning, at the same time as they indicate countervailing praxis-oriented discourses that challenge these ‘fast policy’ approaches. Their research reveals a complex picture, indicating the clear prevalence of such markers in the Australian context, recent challenges to such markers in the Swedish context, and less evidence of such markers in the Finnish context but with some anomalies more recently. The research presents contestation to such markers as resources for hope, at the same time as it cautions how various markers of fast policy exert influence on teachers’ learning.

KEYWORDS:

• Educational policy
• educational politics
• teacher professional learning
• teacher professional development
• fast policy

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Australian Research Council [grant no. FT140100018].

Notes on contributors

Ian Hardy

Ian Hardy is Associate Professor at the School of Education, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia. Dr Hardy researches and teaches educational policy and practice, with a particular focus upon teachers’ learning under current policy conditions. He is author of The Politics of Teacher Professional Development: Policy, Research and Practice (Routledge, 2012) and School Reform in an Era of Standardization: Authentic Accountabilities (Routledge; forthcoming). He has recently been researching the nature of teachers’ learning in relation to curricula policy practices, and globalised educational reform practices more generally, in Australia, Canada, Finland, Sweden and the United States.

Hannu Heikkinen

Hannu Heikkinen is a Professor of Education in the Finnish Institute for Educational Research at the University of Jyväskylä, Finland. He is recognised as an expert in educational action research and narrative inquiry. He has also published on issues related to the theory of recognition with respect to learning and teaching. His recent work has involved collaborative philosophical studies on wisdom – often from the perspective of ‘educational praxis’ – as well as ecosystems for learning, including in higher education, learning for work and at work and professional development of teachers. Hannu is editor in chief of the Research in Educational Sciences Publication Series of the Finnish Educational Research Association and one of the conveners of European Educational Research Association network ‘Professional Learning and Development’.

Anette Olin

Anette Olin is Associate Professor of Education in the Department of Education and Special Education, The University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden. Dr Olin teaches at masters and doctoral level with a specialisation in teachers’ professional learning and action research. Her research is primarily focused on professional learning both for teachers and researchers, working in partnerships. She is the co-editor of a special issue about ‘Partnership and Recognition in Action Research: Understanding the Practices and Practice Architectures for Participation and Change’ in Educational Action Research.